Jean-Yves Duclos
Minister of Families, Children and Social Development in Canada

I think it’s the principles behind the idea [of a guaranteed income] that matter. These principles are greater simplicity for the government, greater transparency on the part of families and greater equity for everyone

Nicola Sturgeon
First minister of scotland and leader of the scottish national party

As we look ahead to the next decade and beyond, it is an idea that merits deeper consideration. I therefore confirm that the Scottish Government will work with interested local authorities to fund research into the concept and the feasibility of a citizens basic income, to help to inform Parliament’s thinking for the future.

Universal basic income (UBI) schemes are often rejected out of hand as too expensive. In some countries [eg. Italy] however, paying every resident a basic income sufficient for survival could actually result in budget savings.

Alec Ross
Former Senior Innovation Advisor to Hillary Clinton, currently running for Governor of Marylan

The economy continues to develop in the way it is with bounty and more spread, more billionaires, and more struggling members of the working class. I do think that there will be more and more momentum for safety-net programs like basic income.

In the 1970s, a five-year basic income program in the Canadian province of Manitoba called Mincome showed promising results. Parents spent more time raising children. Students showed higher test scores and lower dropout rates. Hospital visits, mental illness, car accidents, and domestic abuse cases all declined. And in the end, total working hours only slipped by a few percentage points. In other ...See More

One way to think about a basic income is as follows: it removes a currently binding constraint on time optimization for many individuals allowing them to escape a local minimum – that in turn lets the economy as a whole adjust much faster (and with far less pain).

Paul Buchheit
Lead developer of Gmail, founder of FriendFeed. and investor in Y Combinator

I don't have to work. I choose to work. And I believe that everyone deserves the same freedom I have. If done right, it's also economically superior, meaning that we will all have more wealth. We often talk about how brilliant or visionary Steve Jobs was, but there are probably millions of people just as brilliant as he was. The difference is that they likely didn't grow up with great parents, am...See More

Jeremy Rifkin
American Economic and Social Theorist, Author, Political Advisor

An unconditional basic income would make part-time work a possibility for many who now have to work full-time at minimum wages; it would also start to give all workers the same choice as to how much to work, and under what conditions, as is now possessed by owners of substantial capital.

Our economy [Hawaii's] is changing far more rapidly than anybody's expected. It is important to be sure that everybody will benefit from the technological revolution that we're seeing to make sure no one's left behind.

Björn Wahlroos
One of Richest Men in Finland and Supporter of Free Markets

We'll have to develop – and develop ourselves towards – a society where it'll be possible to guarantee the income level and well-being of people without ravaging the labour markets. And the solution will be a basic income scheme – be it this one or another one

Disagree:

I have difficulty in understanding those who insist on wishing to pay a basic income of 500 Euros per month to those earning a salary of 2000 Euros, and then deduct the same sum by raising their taxes deducted at source.

The reason they adore UBI isn’t to do with their commitment to lift a growing underclass out of poverty; that’s just a bedtime story that helps the super-wealthy sleep. Instead, it’s more to permit spending on their goods by what remains of the American middle class. No one on a stagnant wage can currently buy the things that Musk—and the rest of Silicon Valley—wants to sell them.

John Clarke
Social Activist. Ontario Coalition Against Poverty. Canada.

If we are to go on the offensive against the neoliberal agenda, surely it is the fight for free, expanded and accessible public services that should be our focus. If present systems of income support for unemployed, sick and disabled people are inadquate, we can demand full entitlement, adequate income and an end to intrusive rules and moral policing.However, rather than hope for a tax funded paym...See More

Bob Greenstein
Founder and President of @CenteronBudget. Considered an expert on the federal budget and a ran

UBI would replace virtually every program in the federal budget focused on low- or moderate-income people. No food stamps. No Medicaid. [...] I share the goals; I just don’t think you can get there from here. And I want to focus on progress we can make.

Karl Brenke
Economist at the German Institute for Economics (Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaft DIW) in Be

The idea of freedom, which is connected with UBI, is essentially the opposite: namely the loss of freedom. It is no longer individual citizens who take care of themselves, but the state. The citizen thus becomes the subject of an increasingly powerful state. And because the state provides its citizens with income – which it has previously taken out of their pockets in the form of taxes – all futur...See More

They call it the basic income of all citizens (“reddito di cittadinanza”), but here in Italy we will call it the basic income of the land (“reddito della gleba”, in reference to feudal serfs, or “servi della gleba”, who were linked to the land). We would save characters, and we will be closer to the essence of the reasoning. As much as serfdom (“servitu’ della gleba”) linked the serfs to the land,...See More

To replace a social security system primarily financed by contributions and based on wage solidarity with a rent paid by the Government and financed by tax income seems a war machine against the welfare state. In addition, an income provided unconditionally to anybody can only be mediocre and cannot ensure the financial independence of the beneficiaries. These would be obliged to accept to work fo...See More

Isn't there a better way to answer to answer to the concerns of the beneficiaries of Government benefits? Yes of course: by allocating the sums that we could gather for a UBI program to ensure free basic necessities (food, accommodation, transportation, connectivity) - a measure that, unlike UBI, would not be consumerist in its approach and that would therefore respect the environment. Free necess...See More